#and due to my history with the ninja turtles I immediately remembered that I wanted to do something similar

[saturnaous]

funfact I’m extremely susceptible to timetravel shenanigans. aus save me

[brightlotusmoon]

Based on that one anons statement about the rottmnt fandom, I just wanted to say how cool it is about having a pretty well-experienced tmnt fan in the fandom... if that makes sense LOL Like, you have a lot more things to say and a better understanding on how people are in fandoms. It's hard to put into words, sorry. But it just makes the whole rottmnt fandom feel more chill whenever you give your thoughts and opinions. I always enjoy reading what you have to say. Much Love! 💕

Awww, THANK YOU. That really helps my confidence levels here, since I get anxious often about all my rambling.

And I do everything I can to not stir up too much ugliness that others can bring, because I remember being a fan in my teens and twenties and feeling so sure of everything. I see how easy that feeling is now with constant Social Media and immediate connection that I didn't have at that age. I got to grow up floating through the slowly growing fandom with each version. And the specifics would change but the interactions, the headcanon wars, those never changed. Every single petty argument has been done and I've seen it.

Sometimes I'll try to get between a fight but my words mess up and I have to just back away and watch fans hurt each other over.

For example, there were always heated disagreement over the Raph and Mikey dynamic in different versions but it exploded with 2012. See, after 2012 ended and our love affair waned, we really got into the different kinds of ways siblings acted... and to be honest I as an only child hated parts of the dynamic to the point where I wrote an entire AU full of love and apologies- but I also kept looking at the equally valid concerns of fans who saw nothing wrong and who kept saying it was normal. I had to take all sides into account because I didn't have experience. Which is what I seek in general. And then people began blatantly attacking fans who wanted to discuss the "abuse" aspect. It disturbed me. The fans headcanoning the unhealthy family dynamic struck back in defense and everything got really really bad. It went from "let's talk about the writing of these characters and how we the fans interpret it" to "if you think the characters are like this, you are wrong and deserve physical violence brought upon you" and it hurt to scroll through the tags for a while.

And then it seemed to fade as other arguments popped up, echoing the decades past, and when Rise happened, there was a little bit of disagreement over how it portrayed a family. Nothing vicious. And there was agreement across the board that Michelangelo was obviously portrayed and treated with more love and care, finally showing his ADHD artistic and psychic sensitive side since Mirage and Archie. So that right there brings fans together. Seeing Donnie with autistic traits that aren't stereotypical is also joining the fans, and part of me, as an ADHD Autistic, is both joyously elated and nervously worried because I desperately need to see both Donnie and Mikey with accurate representation regardless of whether or not canon confirms anything.

Like, I spent a decade headcanoning Mikey as autistic, just with very different traits, and I wound up writing a post on Don and Mike representing the varied circular twisting spectrum. And then other autistic fans brought up traits in Leo and Raph, all versions. And nowadays when I read fanfics written by autistics featuring autistic Leo or Raph, that nervous joy rears its head because I just want All Four to represent. And now that I with fellow advocate scholars are looking into ADHD as being on the Mobius spectrum of autism, there's a world of What Else Do The Ninja Turtles represent? coming into the fandom that before were less known due to smaller circles.

So, I love that you appreciate my insights, as random and ranty as they are. I do my best to ignore the fans who don't like my rambles (I got told "for once in your life just shut the fuck up" when they hadn't mentioned my being a problem before, and somehow it felt like my nerves were shivering taught strings caught on wire and it's still a vile sensation). I don't search for praise but I'll take it all when I get it.

I feel like the Rise fandom has some of the most creative, beautiful ideas for all sorts of AU What If stories, because there's the entire history of the franchise to bring in and pay tribute to. That's part of why I'm still here. The main part is, you know, sticking with my biggest autistic special interest that I've clung to since I was nine.